Here’s The New Yorker’s in-depth profile of the famous pickpocket. In it, Penn Jillette tells him, “Fuck you.” I imagine that’s pretty high praise in the world of trickery. Here’s Robbin’s mind-boggling Ted talk on the art of misdirection. And here’s a video of him tricking Neil deGrasse Tyson:
I love this stuff.
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So it’s been over two years since I started my current novel. Sure, I’ve finished a few short stories and a novella in that time, too, but I never imagined the damn thing would have taken so long (I expected six to eight months for the final draft). The thing is I’ve been writing novels since I was seventeen. I haven’t written a good one until now, about a month away from my 32nd birthday. I’ve learned a lot more in these last two years than in the previous ten, probably because I took my time and didn’t rush through the process for once. Just one more draft and I’ll be completely happy with it. At least until I get some feedback on it… at which point there will be several more revisions. Hopefully then I won’t get obsessive with it all over again.
The older I get, the longer I take. This would have horrified 21 year old me, who thought time was zooming by at supersonic speeds. Looking back, 21 was an eternity ago and I wouldn’t suffer that guy’s presence if my life depended on it. Since I began writing this novel I’ve found gray hairs and somehow didn’t give a shit, finally learned how to play guitar with almost average abilities, and started eating a little bit better… just a little bit. I also tend to stay at home on Saturday night and play a ton more video games than I ever did, but hey, I think one of The Beatles once said that if you enjoyed doing something, it was time well spent.
Sounds good to me.
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